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{Telling a tale of grace, love, life & faith}

Monthly Archives: May 2013

We have tried all kinds of diapers. And I can tell you, not all diapers are created equal. After much trial and error, we found that the brands we love the most are Huggies and Pampers. We’ll buy a bag of cheapies (read: the store/off-brand ones for quick middle of the night changes), but we don’t trust them to do the “big” jobs. If you know what I’m saying 😉

I have always thought those mama’s who cloth diapered were brave. Sure, they were doing the best thing for the environment, but tossing poop in the wash? The thought of that alone grosses me out. No offense meant to cloth diapering heroes out there… you are much braver than I. I care about the environment. Not in a over the top, stand on my soap box and preach it to the world kind of way. But I want to do my part to make sure that this place is still suitable to live in when my grandchildren are running around.

One day, while browsing the web during a middle of the night insomnia bout, I came across these stats on decomposition. Why I was looking these things up, I can’t tell you. But, here they are:

Banana Peel: 3-4 weeks

Paper Bag: 1 month

Cardboard: 2 months

Wool Sock : 1 year

Tinned Steel Can: 50 years

Aluminum Can: 200-500 years (But if recycled, it can be reused within 6 weeks!)

Disposable Diapers: 550 years

Plastic Bags : 20-1000 years

Plastic Jug: 1 million years

Glass : 1-2 million years

Styrofoam: 1+ million years

Some of those things I already knew and others weren’t a surprise. But since I now have an infant, the disposable diapers really stuck out to me…. 550 years?! How many diapers have I used on Oliver already? I felt awful! I can’t tell you if it was the postpartum hormones, or what, but it made me go on a search for something better. As you already know, cloth diapering gives me the heebie jeebies. There had to be something better…

Enter The Honest Company. I had seen things about this company before, but its co-founder is Jessica Alba. I’m not/wasn’t a fan of her so I never gave it a second glance. But I looked more into it this time, and I really liked what I was seeing! First of all, their diapers? ADORABLE! Did you see the super cute prints? Second, they do a free trial. You pay the s&h (&5.95) and they send you 7 super cute diapers and a pack of wipes. Those two things right there got me to seriously consider them.

And their wipes are better than ANY brand we’ve tried to date! I think it was the wipes that sold Joe on the Honest products. They’re that good.

After we finished all the trial diapers and wipes, Joe and I sat down and had an *honest* discussion about diapers. Is this a change we wanted to make? Is this something we could afford? Did we like the products enough to give up the Huggies and Pampers? We have been driving 20+ miles each way to go to Sam’s Club to purchase diapers and wipes in bulk. The Honest Company ships a monthly supply straight to our door. Sometimes we’d run out of diapers or wipes and have to do a middle of the night run to Safeway, and its always more expensive there. The Honest Company ships monthly, eliminating the worry of running out in the middle of the night. That was a huge deciding factor for us! For me, it’ll be like Christmas once a month, but I’ll get diapers! Best present ever 😉

Something that I liked personally, that Joe didn’t care either way, was that the diapers are plant based. No chemicals against Oliver’s cute lil tushy! And, these diapers are 30% MORE absorbent. Jackpot!

Here is the price comparison chart they have on their website:

As you can see, these diapers aren’t really that much of a price difference than the other brands out there!

If you’re a mama, or a daddy, and you want to get a free trial… do it! Here’s a link to take you there 🙂

They make all sorts of products. I’m sure I’ll slowly be testing all of them out and reviewing them on here. My next one will hopefully be their diaper cream and sunscreen! Let me know if you try their diapers and how you like them! I already know you’ll love them 🙂

Half a year. Its already been half a year since my terrible birthing experience. Six months. They all said it would be worth it. The miserable pregnancy, the awful labor, and the terrifying c-section. You know what? They were right. This little guy is a hoot! I don’t know what I did with my life before him. Seriously… what did I do?

Oliver had his 6 month well baby check up, and we learned that he is little but mighty! He weighed in at 16lbs 13oz, and is 26 3/4 inches long. He thought the chux pad was a fun toy, as well as the sanitary paper they place over the table. He drooled all over the doctor, and just had to watch him while he assessed him. He even tried to help by grabbing onto his stethoscope. He wiggled, and bounced, and smiled the whole time. Except when the shots came. Then he turned bright red and looked at me like “How dare you let this lady hurt me!!!”. Sorry kiddo… 😦 Did I mention all the office ladies LOVE him? They coo and fawn over him. Its pretty dang adorable 🙂

We have officially started SOLIDS! Joe and I have made the decision to forgo rice cereal. I know its a common first food for baby, but it really has zero nutritional value. Its a tummy filler, and not much else. After much research, we decided to start Oliver with…

AVOCADO!

Its a great first food! Its got the texture, the creaminess, and bonus!, its nutrient dense and full of the good fats.

Did you know?

“Sodium- and cholesterol- free, avocados contain valuable nutrients including 8% of the recommended Daily Value (DV) for folate; 4% DV for fiber and potassium, 4% DV for vitamin E; and 2% DV for iron. A serving of avocado also contains 81 micrograms of the carotenoid lutein and 19 micrograms of beta-carotene. Per serving, avocados have 3.5 grams of unsaturated fats, which are known to be important for normal growth and development of the central nervous system and brain.” http://www.avocado.org/healthy_living/nutrition.php

As you can see by the picture, Oliver loved his first avocado experience. His first bite was adorable. He tasted it, let it sit in his mouth for a few seconds, decided he liked it, then tried to shovel more and more in with his fingers. We have a messy eater on our hands! I don’t mind the mess. He’s a boy, boys get dirty. Plus he’s experiencing new things. Lots of sensory stimulation for him.

What else is he doing now? He’s mastered the army crawl, and is always up on his hands and knees. We suspect he’ll be crawling within the month, if not sooner! More talking (baby talk). He notices when we leave the room now, and screams like a banshee. Isn’t that just precious? He loves to hit things — especially with his left hand. We all suspect (his pediatrician included) that he may turn out to be a lefty. He uses his right hand too, so no worries, no developmental delays or issues. He sits unassisted very well, and can almost get himself into a sitting position from laying down by himself. He also has abs of steel. This kid is strong!

How are mom and dad?

TIRED! He’s not transitioning into the pack-n-play as well as we had hoped. (I’m not a believer in cry it out at this young, so I refuse to do that, or any form of sleep training that involves letting my six month old infant cry and scream himself to sleep). My work hours have shifted. Now I get to be home at a decent hour at night (9pm as compared to midnight), but adjusting is still difficult when you have a baby who likes to wake up every 2-3 hours at night just for fun. I still love my job though 🙂

Joe has officially finished and submitted his application for Moody Bible Institute! He has applied for their online Bachelors degree program in Biblical Studies. Yay! Go hubby! He’s also enjoying being a stay at home dad. We’re praying he gets accepted into the program. It would be a perfect fit for where he is in life, and for what he wants to do!